Austria

Raising the stakes in Europe's debt crisis, Austria's finance minister said Italy may need a financial rescue because of its high borrowing costs, drawing a sharp denial on Tuesday from the Italian prime minister, Reuters reported. Maria Fekter's assessment of the euro zone's third largest economy stoked investors' fears that Europe is far from ending 2-1/2 years of turmoil - a feeling reinforced by Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager, who said the euro zone was "still far from stable".

The administrator of insolvent Austrian group A-TEC Industries has sold its ATB electrical drive division to China's Wolong group, he said in a statement on Wednesday, Reuters reported. A-TEC is being broken up and sold in parts after failing to complete a restructuring that aimed to pay off 47 percent of its debts to creditors. "A quick decision on a new owner for ATB -- in contrast to the two other divisions Mechanical Engineering and Minerals & Metals, whose liquidation is under way -- was of significant importance," administrator Matthias Schmidt said in a statement.

Oesterreichische Volksbanken AG, the Austrian lender that failed a European stress test, is seeking a restructuring as writedowns will result in an annual loss of as much as 750 million euros ($1 billion), Bloomberg Businessweek reported. Volksbanken, majority-owned by a group of 62 regional cooperative banks in Austria, will write down the value of its corporate-client unit Investkredit and its Romanian bank by a combined 700 million euros, the Vienna-based company said in a statement.

Austria's insolvent A-TEC Industries will be broken up and sold off in parts after sale talks with a potential buyer failed, the Austria Press Agency said on Friday, Reuters reported. "Due to the time restrictions and differing expectations of the involved parties, the negotiations have fallen through," APA quoted Czech investment group Penta Investments as saying. Last week an offer fell through for the troubled Austrian group from another suitor, Contor Industries GmbH.

An offer from Contor Industries GmbH to buy Austria's troubled A-TEC Industries appears to have fallen through because of a legal dispute, the Austria Press Agency reported on Wednesday. A-TEC accepted the offer from Contor this month, saying it fulfilled terms agreed with its creditors, but has been forced to back away for now, APA reported A-TEC's chief executive as telling an extraordinary shareholder meeting. CEO Mirko Kovats said this was because a suit filed by Czech investment group Penta Investments had spooked an investor that Contor had lined up for one of the assets, APA reported.

Austria's troubled A-TEC Industries has accepted an offer from Contor Industries GmbH that fulfils its deal with creditors to find an outside investor, it said on Monday, Reuters reported. It did not put a value on the deal but said payments resulting from the offers must be made no later than Sept. 30. "The payments shall, together with the funds already deposited with the trustee, enable the fulfillment of the restructuring plan quota," it said in a statement.

Troubled Austrian engineering group A-TEC is holding talks with potential investors and hopes to remain a going concern despite a preliminary 2010 net loss of 584.5 million euros ($840.2 million), Reuters reported. A-TEC struck a deal with creditors in December to repay 47 percent of its debts and agreed to find an outside investor by June 30 as a way to avoid bankruptcy. "The management board of A-TEC Industries AG has received non-binding offers from various potential investors and is conducting intensive negotiations with them," it said in a statement on Wednesday.

Austrian technology and engineering group A-TEC struck a deal with creditors on Wednesday to repay 47 percent of its debts and agreed to find an outside investor by June 30 as a way to avoid bankruptcy, Reuters reported. The insolvent industrial conglomerate with more than 11,000 employees was under pressure to find a solution with creditors by a Jan. 20 deadline. Georg Kantner of the Austrian creditor's association KSV said the deal had bought time to find an investor and provided a realistic chance for a turnaround.

Austrian technology and engineering group A-TEC struck a deal with creditors yesterday to repay 47 percent of its debts and agreed to find an outside investor by June 30 as a way to avoid bankruptcy, Reuters reported yesterday. The insolvent industrial conglomerate with more than 11,000 employees was under pressure to find a solution with creditors by a Jan. 20 deadline. Georg Kantner of the Austrian creditor's association KSV said that the deal had bought time to find an investor and provided a realistic chance for a turnaround.

Creditors of A-Tec Industries AG, the insolvent Austrian engineering group, would welcome majority shareholder and Chief Executive Mirko Kovats stepping down, Austrian state broadcaster ORF quoted the spokesman of A-Tec’s creditor committee as saying, Bloomberg News reported today. Kovats’ resignation as CEO “would be beneficial for building trust and it would be very, very acceptable for creditors,” Hans-Georg Kantner of credit protection association KSV Kreditschutzverband von 1870 told ORF radio in an interview.